


Mirror, Mirror

by greerian



Category: The Book of Mormon - Parker/Stone/Lopez
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Based on a Tumblr Post, Blood Magic, Blood and Injury, F/F, Fae & Fairies, Fairy Tale Elements, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Funny, M/M, Magic, Monsters, Near Death Experiences, Princes & Princesses, Quests, Self-Harm, Soul Bond, Spells & Enchantments, Sunlight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 18:59:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6483256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greerian/pseuds/greerian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Amy, for her birthday. </p><p>Prince Kevin Price needs a quest, and what's better than rescuing the guy trapped in his enchanted mirror?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mirror, Mirror

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elderxprice](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elderxprice/gifts).



> Well, goodness gracious. Forgive me for anything blatantly awful; I got inspired for this Sunday night, and I just finished it today. 
> 
> Inspired by Kaxen (on Tumblr) and [this post](http://http://greerian.tumblr.com/post/142200486329/emissarydeatons-you-know-i-love-coffee-shop-aus), i.e., the "i just fell in love with my magic mirror au."
> 
> Also, this is a very loosely defined universe. Not a ton of world-building. Think Disney-esque. 
> 
> Playlist: We Bought a Zoo album by Jonsi and Battle Angel album by Really Slow Motion.

"Mirror, mirror," Prince Kevin calls, striding into his room regally. The enchanted velvet curtains that hang over his magic mirror's surface part, and he comes face to face with his own reflection in its flawless, gleaming surface. Broad-shouldered, tall, and handsome, with his dark hair swept elegantly to the side and darker eyes sparkling in the sunlight from the windows, he looks every inch a prince. Instead of smiling brightly, though, as he should, he winces; he hadn't thought the bags under his eyes were that obvious.

"Hey there," the mirror replies cheerfully, "how were your studies today? Your dad still on you about your quest?"

Kevin's face darkens at the mention of his quest. Ever since he was knighted, on his nineteenth birthday, His Majesty the King has been hinting at the banquet table that it is high time his eldest son began his princely quest, thus allowing him to be rightfully claimed as heir and what not. Kevin has heard the speech a hundred times now, but today... today His Majesty the King actually _ordered_ him to choose _something_ by the end of the week.

"He _ordered_ me, Mirror!" Kevin says. "In front of everyone in the great hall, he just... can you believe that? I'm not even that _old_ ; there's no reason to rush. I bet he didn't even go on his quest until he was almost twenty either."

Mirror hums sympathetically, its edges vibrating against the stone wall of Kevin's chambers. "Why haven't you picked something yet, anyway?" it asks. "I thought you were all excited to go save a princess or whatever. But now you're just losing sleep over it."

So the mirror had noticed.

"I w- I _am_!" Kevin declares, stepping back and going to shuck his leather dinner boots. They're so awfully uncomfortable, he almost wishes he didn't have to wear them. But gosh if they don't make his calves look _fantastic_. "I've _always wanted_ to go on a quest, but I have to find the right one." And the right quest could be hard to find. Kevin's read the books; failed quests are a dime a dozen, and if you mess one up, your next one - if you even get the chance - isn't the one people remember. And he's _Prince Kevin Price_! He has to have the perfect quest. It's going to be hard, of course, but Kevin can do _anything_. He just needs to find the most incredible quest out there.

"You could always go save a princess from a tower?" Mirror offers.

Kevin scoffs, pulling his tunic, and then his vest, up and over his head. Ah, much better. It's ridiculously hot for spring right now, and no matter how much Kevin enjoys looking professional and like the crown prince he is, sometimes it's just nice to strip down to shirt and pants only. And it's not like there's anyone here to see it.

"You should know me better than that," Kevin replies, dropping the clothes in a basket set aside. "That's not incredible in the least. Dukes save princesses from towers. Heck, I think even the baker's son saved a lady the other week. On accident, of course, because she was a little too determined to get out, but the point still stands: that's an _average_ quest, and I am anything but average."

"Yeah..." the mirror says, softly.

Kevin turns to give it a curious look. Mirror has never sounded like that before.

"I mean, you are _awesome_!" it continues. "You deserve an awesome quest, too!"

Kevin preens. "Thank you," he says politely, even though it's only an enchanted mirror. He forgets that, sometimes, because Mirror is just so person-like. If Kevin is honest with himself, he likes it better than most of the overstuffed noblemen and women he has to converse with most of the time. He sure talks to it more.

"But really, what should I do? There's no dragons here anymore, not since Prince Grant scared them all off." Prince Grant has always been kind to the point of obsequious around Kevin, though, so Kevin guesses he can let it go. "The priests have gotten rid of all the demons, mermaids and sea monsters are too far away to fight, and-" He cocks his head. "I did hear there was a treasure trove a few leagues west of here, but I think it's guarded by trolls and I _refuse_ to let my quest be retrieving gold from a bunch of disgusting _trolls_!"

He sighs, falling back onto his bed with a soft thump. Gosh, he really does have the best bed in the world. Filled with down and covered with silk... but Kevin is getting off topic. "I need something _noble_ ," he says. "Something that shows everyone what a good person I am. Something that exemplifies me as a prince. Something... _incredible_." A quest like that seems so much more unachievable when he's lying flat on his back.

"How about an enchantment?" Mirror suggests.

Kevin pushes himself up on his elbows. "An enchantment?"

"Yeah!" the mirror says eagerly. "You could rescue somebody from an enchantment and be a hero, and bring them back to the castle to show everybody and then it would show everybody how _great_ you are, while still being a really worthy quest!"

"Huh," Kevin replies. It would have to be a pretty bad enchantment, to make sure people were really impressed, but that just might work. But- "I don't know of anybody enchanted." He almost flops back onto his mattress.

"Uh..." Mirror says. "...you know me."

Kevin blinks. "What?"

"You know me?" the mirror repeats sheepishly. Kevin can almost see it shrug.

"You?" Kevin echoes, sitting up all the way. "But you're a mirror."

"An _enchanted_ mirror," Mirror says. "A.k.a, somebody you could save for your quest!"

"But... you... you're not a person, are you?" Kevin asks suspiciously. "That would be..." Perfect for his quest, actually. How noble, saving someone from a mirror. Kevin didn't even know that was possible.

"Yeah, um, believe it or not," the mirror replies.

Kevin grins. _Perfect_.

******

Apparently the kingdom is very impressed by Kevin's declaration of intent to save the person trapped in his enchanted magic mirror. Kevin's tutor reports that it makes him seem compassionate. Kevin beams at the praise. How awesome is it that his _perfect quest_ was hanging on his wall the whole time?

But it's going to be a long quest. Mirror-trapped people aren't very common, so the cure isn't well-known or convenient to find. According to His Majesty the King's royal scholars, Kevin has to travel for a week on horseback through the depths of the dark forest to the camp of the notorious Fairies (with a capital 'F', Kevin was very sternly told) who lived at the base of a hook-topped mountain, who would be able to tell him about the rest of his quest. When he asked how long he should plan to be gone, they all gave him grave, worried looks and the eldest, a woman old enough to be his great-grandmother said "Three weeks, if you're lucky. Months, if you come back at all."

And, okay, _that_ was a little worrying, but that's a scholar's job, to be all foreboding and somber-faced. It's Kevin's job to be stalwart and courageous in the face of unknown danger, and that's exactly what he's going to be.

So, with summer just around the corner, Kevin's servants pack his saddlebags full of provisions and clothes and tools, load up his horse, somehow strap Mirror onto the back of his saddle, and get him strapped into his shiniest armor. His mother cries over his farewell, and all of his siblings - even the ones he wasn't sure were actually _full-blooded royalty_ \- were there to see him off, and even though His Majesty the King wasn't at the sending-off ceremony, he did make a speech about it at dinner the night before, so it's properly emotional and portrait-worthy. He's pretty sure he even saw the royal painter making a sketch of his retreating form on his way out of the courtyard. Or, he would have, if he had looked back. But he didn't, of course, because a prince on a noble quest _never_ looks back.

******

By day five, the armor is entirely gone, stashed in a cave somewhere Kevin hopes he'll remember to visit on his way back. His clothes are filthy, because once he actually looked through his saddlebags he founds approximately _one_ outfit appropriate for traipsing through the forest and threw the rest out to save room for food. His hair is a mess. He's given up on keeping clean at all, because the stream he's following to the mountain is hardly a foot wide now.

Kevin feels _gross_ , and pretty much the furthest thing from incredible. This quest is _nothing_ like what he was expecting. But Mirror is still there, and he's made a surprisingly good travelling companion in a boring forest with absolutely no distractions - not even in the form of lethal monsters, which Kevin was promised would be plentiful. He's in perfect shape still, except for the bugs crawling across its surface, and, well, Kevin can't help but be a little jealous.

Kevin is hunched over the small fire he was able to put together, holding a stick with a fish speared on the end - one of the only sources of food he was taught to look for that has actually panned out - when he suddenly realizes:

"Do you have a name?"

"What?" Mirror asks.

"You're a person in there," Kevin says. "So, what's your name? How'd you get in there, anyway?"

The mirror is quiet for a moment, and that's kind of weird, because whoever it is in there has always been a chatty guy; Kevin would have thought he'd jump at the chance to talk about himself.

"I didn't think to ask before," he offers. Maybe Mirror just wants an apology. But it's not like _Kevin_ knew.

"No, no, it's okay," Mirror replies. "I mean, it's not like we've lived together for two years or anything."

Kevin winces.

"Well, to be fair, I didn't _know_ you were a person. It's not like I can see anything but a mirror when I look at you. You could have _told_ me."

"Yeah, I know," Mirror replies. "I just... I didn't know if you'd believe me."

Kevin resists the urge to roll his eyes. "I believed you enough to go on a quest to save you, didn't I?" he asked.

"Really?" the mirror says; he sounds... awe-struck. "For me?"

"...yeah," Kevin answers, "of course, Mirror. This whole trip is to get you free. Of course it's for you." It's also because Kevin needed a quest, but Mirror already knows that.

"Okay!" Mirror replies, much happier sounding now.

"So, what's your story?" Kevin asks. "All I know is that when I woke up on my eighteenth birthday, you were on the wall."

"Yeah, yeah," Mirror says. "It's kind of weird, how it all went down. I was just in the woods, doing my thing, when this whole hunting party came down on me, and they all had their bows and arrows pointing at me. I kind of freaked out, obviously, because I didn't know what the heck I did, because I thought the dark forest was free ground for foraging, but whatever. And then they tied me up and brought me to your dad-"

"His Majesty the King," Kevin corrects automatically.

"Yeah, okay," says the mirror. "And he said 'he'll do' or something and then had his magic wizard mage guy say some spells or something, and then he cut my arm with a knife and put the blood on this sand pile and then some other stuff and maybe some fire, I don't know, and next thing I knew I was on your wall and you were really excited about- about me, I guess, and then I tried to get out and I..." He goes quiet.

"Wait... he used blood magic?" Kevin asks. "But blood magic is _illegal_!"

"Look, I'm just saying what happened," Mirror answers defensively. "I don't know what's legal or unlegal or whatever, but blood was involved."

Kevin has to sit there a second to absorb that. His Majesty the _King_ , allowing blood magic? It's just... it's unbelievable. But why would Mirror lie to him?

"That's... that's _horrible_ ," Kevin says softly. Blood magic is illegal for a reason. From what Kevin has read, it's messy and painful and undeniably _dark_ , and usually harms the subject irreparably. No wonder Mirror wants to be saved.

"What were you doing in the woods, anyway?" he asks. "It's dangerous out- in here. Everybody knows that."

Mirror laughs, and that, at least, is familiar. Mirror has a very distinctive laugh, and at first it bothered the heck out of Kevin, but now... now it's almost nice. It's friendly, anyway, and it makes Kevin smile.

"Yeah, so, that's even weirder. So my dad had just kicked me out, and I was just trying to find a place to stay."

Kevin blinks. "Your father kicked you out?" he asks, brow furrowing in concern. "Why? What did you do?" Usually banishment to the dark forest is only reserved for the worst

criminals. And Mirror never _seemed_ like a criminal. He's... he's a nice guy, or so Kevin thought.

"Oh, he wanted to marry this lady, and she didn't like me."

"...that's it?"

"Uh... well, he told everybody I was a witch 'cause I lied so much and when they had the trial nobody stood up for me so... yeah."

"...you're making that up," Kevin says, disbelieving. "There's no way the villagers are that cruel." They've always been so nice to Kevin in the past. They wouldn't... they wouldn't do that to his mirror. "You're lying."

The mirror laughs awkwardly. "Yeah..." he says. "I... yeah, totally."

Kevin smiles. He knew that couldn't be true.

Mirror stays quiet as Kevin eats his dinner. The sun has set, and traveling for days really can take a lot out of you, so once he's done Kevin just builds up the fire for protection and sets up his bedroll. By the time he gets settled in, Mirror still hasn't said anything.

Kevin ends up watching the fire die down, instead of falling asleep, and as he watches, a sneaking suspicion comes to weight on him like a millstone round his neck.

"You... you weren't making it up, were you?" he asks quietly.

After a long, long time, Mirror says "No, I wasn't."

******

Day seven is supposed to bring them to the camp of the Fairies (with a capital 'F'), but Kevin still has to go through day six with Mirror. The lack of conversation that he's stuck with gives him a lot of time to think over Mirror's story, and the more he thinks about it, the worse he feels. He doesn't want to believe it, _any_ of it, but he can't help but do it anyway. He just didn't know that the villagers could be so cruel, or that anyone's dad would kick them out for not doing anything wrong, or... or that His Majesty the King would _break the law_. With _blood magic_ , even. Magic is generally off-limits for the royal family, so Kevin's education on it wasn't exactly _deep_ , but he hadn't been able to brush off the disturbing depictions of the power of blood magic. It's... it's so _dark_ , and it's dangerous. Kevin read that if the caster missed any steps or misspoke any of the words of the spell, both them and the subject of the spell could _die._ Mirror could have died, for Kevin's birthday present.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you," Kevin says, sometimes after they stop for lunch. "I should have trusted you."

"Hey, no problem," Mirror answers, but he sounds subdued, and Kevin knows that not even his princely apology was good enough. "I'm just a mirror. It's not like you even knew I was in here, right?"

"Yeah, I guess that's true," Kevin says, "but... I could have asked." Really, why hadn't he ever questioned the gift of an enchanted mirror anymore than 'Gosh, is it really mine?'

"And you're not just a mirror." He swallows before looking over his shoulder at Mirror. "I like you, whoever you are in there," he says, smiling. "You're... I'd have to say you're my best friend."

"Arnold!" Mirror blurts out. Kevin can feel him quivering with excitement against Kevin's back. "My name is Arnold."

******

"When the scholars said seven days," Kevin grumbles, "they really meant _seven whole days_."

Arnold hums sympathetically.

"Yeah, you aren't tired at all, I bet," Kevin says. "Your thighs aren't sore as heck from horseback riding for a solid _week_."

Arnold is really bad at stifling his laughs.

"I have never been in this much pain in my _life_ ," he continues, "not even when His Majesty the King made me go to a three-day long broadsword training session. That was supposed to be for my _quest_ , and look how much good _that_ did. I haven't had to face a _single monster_. You know, I'm actually kind of disappointed about that, because I've practiced a lot for what I'm going to do if I meet one, and-"

"I know," Arnold says, giggling.

"You... oh my _gosh_." Kevin had practiced that in his room. His _room_ , where _Arnold_ 's mirror hung on the walls. "You've seen _everything_ , haven't you?"

"If by 'everything', you mean _everything_ ," Arnold says, "then yeah, I've seen everything."

Oh gosh, _everything_... that includes so much. He knew the mirror was _there_ , of course, but... but he never really put the pieces together, or known how much Arnold could _see_. Kevin had practiced speeches in there, real and pretend ones, and he had cursed sometimes, and broken down sometimes, and practiced his really bad sword technique, and _prayed_ , because his room was the only place he could do any of that alone, and Arnold had seen it _all_.

But, even worse: "You've seen me naked."

"Well, yeah," Arnold replies. "It's not like you changed in the bathroom."

"But that means you've seen-" Well, young men have _needs_ \- even righteous princes - and... and Kevin hadn't always made sure the mirror's curtains were closed before he took care of those needs. He's not some sort of freak who would blatantly show off his form in the mirror, but... "You seen everything!" he continues, scandalized.

Arnold laughs, and his frame bumps against Kevin's back. " _Yeah_ ," he repeats. "What your point?"

"My point is, you've seen me being- _indecent_!" Kevin hisses.

" _Oh_ ," Arnold replies with understanding. "I guess I have. I mean, it wasn't gross or anything, if that's what you're worried about."

Not really, but... "It wasn't?" Kevin just wants to make sure. He is going to have to get married one day, of course, and, as frightening as it is to realize that he's had very human company during his private time, it's also kind of nice to know that he isn't, well, unappealing.

"Nah, of course not," Arnold replies. "You're really- _not that I was watching_! Uh, yeah, this is _totally_ just from when you, uh, stripped down, I totally _averted my eyes_ when you got down to business, I promise! I mean, I wouldn't, uh, I have _no desire to_ , uh... _hey_ , is that the mountain?"

Kevin's head snaps up, and-

"Oh my gosh, yes, it is! Thank _goodness_. I am so tired of riding this horse." And Kevin doesn't really know how Arnold knew, considering he's facing backwards, but he certainly wasn't wrong.

"Oh," Arnold says. "Great. That means we're almost done, right?"

"Yes," Kevin answered, digging his heels into his horse's side to make this last bit of the journey faster. "Just get to the mountain, find the camp of the Fairies - with a capital 'F' - then follow their instructions for the rest. Since we've been travelling a week, and His Majesty the King's scholars said three weeks, we are almost halfway done!" Which is honestly really great, because this quest is not turning out to be nearly as glamorous or as noble as he was told it would be. "Just a few more days, and then we'll have you out of that mirror, Arnold!"

Kevin can hear Arnold's smile when he replies with a grateful "thank you."

******

The sun is starting to set, casting a golden glow over the patch of meadow between the forest and the mountain, when Kevin and Arnold finally break through the last line of trees. Kevin heaves a sigh of relief, but then there's an obvious problem: he doesn't know where to go. To the right and to the left, there's identical swathes of thick green meadow grass, with no Fairy village in sight.

"Great."

"What's wrong?" Arnold asks.

"There's nowhere to go," Kevin says. "We'll have to go around the mountain."

"What? Seriously? But didn't your dad's scholars say you would find the fairy camp as soon as we left the forest?"

"That's what I _thought_ ," Kevin replies petulantly. He crosses his arms before surveying the grass again. Nothing. "But apparently _not_. Now where are we going to go?"

"Right," answers Arnold promptly. "Good things always happen on the right."

"But nobody ever chooses left," Kevin responds. "What about the road less traveled and all that?"

"Have you ever heard of anybody going on a successful journey turning left?"

"No, but I could be the first."

"That just doesn't make sense."

"Why are you so sure I can't be the one to break that streak?"

"I didn't-"

"Do you think I can't do this?"

"What? No-"

"Why'd you even come along, if you think this quest is going to fail?"

"I _had_ to come," Arnold huffs. "Your quest is getting my body back, remember?"

"Like that's going to do you any good if you don't have faith in me."

"What? Kevin, that doesn't even make s- Kevin."

"Of course it makes sense! I'm the crown prince! If you don't have faith in me, then you don't have faith in my ability to _rule_ , and that just renders this whole adventure null and void, now doesn't it?"

"Kevin."

" _What_ , Arnold? Are you just going to tell me how much you doubt me again?"

"Kevin, turn around."

Kevin huffs. "That's a little difficult on a horse, Arnold."

" _Kevin_!" He sounds scared.

Tensing, Kevin whips around to see-

"Oh my gosh..." he breathes. _That_ is the most horrifying thing he has ever seen in his _life_.

It's a giant, spindly-legged monster, black as night, with a gaping mouth littered with sharp, shining teeth, silently hunched over Kevin and Arnold. Its massive shoulders - if that's what the shadowy cloak of darkness starting about eight feet up is supposed to be hanging off of - heave as it inhales, and Kevin feels the rush of icy air past him into the creature's mouth. And then... it _giggles_.

"You ruined the surprise!" it cries, in a voice Kevin has only heard in his worst nightmares.

"What the _heck_?" he whispers, and the creatures' limbs start to buckle, making the most painful cracking, creaking, and groaning sounds as it folds up into itself. A face appears, stretching and folding itself over the gaping maw that Kevin is convinced was the gateway to hell itself, and it's the face of a very pretty, curly-haired girl.

"I was going to scare you," she says with a grin, as the last of her protruding black spider legs disappears into her back.

Kevin still can hardly breathe. She looks innocent enough now, hardly as tall as his horse's rump, her dark skin radiant in the light of the setting sun, but he will never forget that terrifying vision that he thought was a sure harbinger of his own death.

"You probably just shaved ten years off my life," he tells her, gasping for breath, and she laughs, throwing her head back and making those wild curls bounce.

"I'm harmless, I promise you," she says. "But I like finding pompous princes in the forest, so I can scare them into being nice. Or quiet, at least."

"You're _beautiful_."

Kevin frowns. That's definitely Arnold, but instead of sounding striken like Kevin, he sounds... _striken_. Love-stricken. And that's just not right; just because she claims she's harmless doesn't mean she _is_. Arnold has no idea what he could be getting himself into.

The girl gasps, rushing forward to take a hold of Arnold's mirror frame.

"An enchanted mirror!" she says, looking at the gleaming surface with awe.

"What _are_ you, anyway?" Kevin asks, nudging his horse to get it facing her direction. He's definitely not comfortable having his back to her, in any case.

"My _name_ ," she says, looking at him reproachfully as she follows his horse's behind to keep her hands on Arnold, "is Nabulungi, Princess of the Fairies. With a capital 'F'."

"A _princess_ ," Arnold says breathlessly. "Your highness." And then he does this waving thing with his curtains that is probably supposed to be a bow that _Kevin_ has definitely never seen before.

"You're from the Fairies," Kevin says, "Great. Awesome. Can you show us to your village, please?"

Nabulungi ignores him. "And what is _your_ name?" she asks, still watching her own face in the mirror.

"Arnold!" it answers. "And you're Nah-bahn-joh-vi?"

Kevin huffs a sigh.

"Nah-bah- _loon_ -gi," she corrects sweetly.

"Princess Nabulungi?" Kevin says. Finally, she looks up at him, smiling.

"Yes, Crown Prince Kevin Price of Price Hall, son of His Majesty the King Richard Price the III and Greatest of his Time, what can I do to assist you in your quest to release your companion from his mirror, in which he was trapped by your father to be your eighteenth birthday present?"

Kevin has to try three times for an answer.

"Your highness," he says, respectfully, "Arnold and I were... that is, we were told to seek out your village, but I can't seem to find the way. Could you possibly direct us there?" _And not turn into an eldritch monster and eat us?_ No wonder the scholars were so particular about that capital 'F' thing.

"Of course!" Princess Nabulungi replies. "I'm sorry if I scared you. But the Fairies can tell what you're thinking, and if you decided to be rude in the village, you might have gotten eaten. And that wouldn't be a very nice way to end your quest, would it?"

Kevin shakes his head.

"Good," she says, smiling, and then she gently pats Kevin's leg. "Now, you need a place to sleep, don't you?"

"Yes, please," Arnold answers. Her smile brightens, and she presses a kiss to the top of Arnold's frame. He goes hot against Kevin's back.

"Follow me," she says, and then, with a swish of her deep purple cape, she heads off into the grass.

*******

Kevin finally gets to sleep in a bed again that night, thank goodness. The Fairies actually have _houses_ , which is lovely and so much better than sleeping out in the open. But the village itself… well, _that_ ’s a fun story. The Fairies are all very crude, in Kevin’s opinion, and since they’re the most powerful beings in all the land, they kind of get to do whatever they want. Using foul language and playing tricks, for example. Kevin and Arnold have to sit through a complicated song and dance number, laden with profanity, and somehow manage not to scream, only to meet the king and hear: “An enchanted mirror? You did not need to come to _me_ for that! You must go up to see the doctor!”

And the leader of the fairies, laughing gleefully points up to the top of one of the tallest trees Kevin has ever seen. There, barely visible in the darkness, is a vague mass that must be where the doctor lives.

“I… I think I’ll head up there tomorrow,” he says, smiling as optimistically as he can (which, at this point, is not very much).

King Mafala shrugs. “Your choice,” he says.

But after a decent meal and a goodnight’s sleep, Kevin is feeling a bit better about the situation. It is his _quest_ , after all, and no one ever said it was going to be easy.

He has to leave Arnold behind to climb that tree, though, because it doesn’t get any shorter in the daylight. Arnold should be _fine_ , though. Nabulungi is still fawning over him, so it’s not like he’s going to get hurt. As for anything _else_ … they can’t do much if Arnold is a mirror, now can they?

That nasty little satisfaction spurring him on, Kevin manages to climb all the way up to the doctor’s tree house. And that… that’s an interesting place. It’s not very neat, the way Kevin expected. There’s glass vials and bottles and jars and canisters everywhere, in a thousand different colors filled with a thousand different things, and it’s actually pretty neat, if Kevin’s honest. And sunlight comes in from every side - there’s so many _windows_ \- setting the glass alight, and… it’s kind of dazzling. But also messy; Kevin trips over a crate of something that croaks and almost falls on his face.

“Hey!” someone barks. “Watch it, asshole!”

Kevin huffs. “I’m sorry, sir,” he says. _But maybe if you didn’t leave things on the floor your visitors wouldn’t trip on them._

“Come on back,” the voice commands, so Kevin follows the ambiguous path between boxes and piles and, memorably, a tower of moving vines about his height to a darker room in the back. The tree house must be huge, though, because this room is almost as big as the one Kevin just came from, and there’s still another doorway leading somewhere else that Kevin catches a glimpse of. But this room doesn’t have as many windows, and the ones it does have aren’t facing the morning sun, so the darkened wood that forms the walls looks a little more mysterious here. There is a man sitting on a couch in the room, laughing and playing with a little girl. Their faces are hidden in the shadows, but he knows immediately that they’re father and daughter.

The man looks up; he catches Kevin’s eye, and his grin turns to a scowl. “All right, get out,” he says.

Kevin balks. “What? But I just _got_ -”

“Not you.” The man waves an aristocratic hand. “Come on, sweetheart, out you go.”

“No!” the little girl answers. She giggles, flailing her arms, and the man scoops her up, blowing a raspberry against her stomach.

“I’m going to throw you out the window,” he says, and she shrieks with laughter.

“No, daddy!”

“I’m gonna throw you out the window!” he teases again.

She squirms, giggling, and then, to Kevin’s surprise, he actually goes to the window.

“I’m gonna throw you out,” he warns, and she screams playfully.

And then he throws her out the window.

Kevin runs to it, watching in horror as she falls the long, long way to the ground.

“She’s fine,” the man says dismissively. “Sit down.”

Kevin splutters, gesturing out the window, and the man grins.

“She knows how to fly,” he adds. “See for yourself.”

So Kevin looks, and down, near the ground, a dark but shining blur shoots forward through the village before looping back around and heading straight for the treehouse. If that’s the little girl, then she’s going _fast_. In a matter of a minute, Kevin can make out her features as she approaches, and she’s laughing gleefully.

“ _Wow_ ,” he says, stepping back.

The man jerks his head in a sharp nod, then goes to the window and yells “Go play somewhere else!”

A distant “Okay, daddy!” comes as a response. The doctor smiles one last time before heading back to his couch. By the time he sits down, his scowl is so strong Kevin can hardly believe he’s ever smiled.

“What do you want?”

Kevin takes a deep breath.

“Wait. You’re on a quest, aren’t you? And you need advice or a potion or some magic from me, right?”

Kevin nods.

“Bah!” The doctor stands and stalks to the other side of the room to a gigantic cabinet, whose doors he throws open with force.He starts to grumble, saying, “Don’t you princes have better things to do, like actually learning how to run a kingdom? These quests are a waste of _my time_ and _my resources_ and all you need is a fucking enchanted _sword_.”

He turns around, and then he throws three things Kevin’s way. “Righteous sword, collapsible armor, and dragon-flame proof shield,” he barks, “everything you need to go save your damsel. Now get out of my house.”

“No, sir, excuse me, but-”

“What _else_ do you want?”

“I’m not fighting a dragon.”

The doctor huffs. “Of course not,” he says, “because you’re special, aren’t you?”

That kind of stings.

“I especially need your help, sir,” Kevin says, struggling to keep his tone polite, “because my quest involved a magic mirror.”

The doctor stills.

“A magic mirror?” he says. “Enchanted?”

“Yes, sir.”

A grin splits the doctor’s face, and he leans forward.

“Soul or body?”

“I… I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

The doctor sighs. “How was the mirror enchanted? Was someone’s soul placed in it, or their body?”

Kevin blinks.

“Do you know how the mirror was made?”

“Oh! Yes, it was blood magic.”

“Blood magic?” The doctor’s grin goes manic. “Are you sure?”

Without a moment of hesitation, Kevin nods.

The doctor cackles. “Incredible!” he declares. And then he’s turning back to his cabinet and fishing around, making the contents clink and crash and make other noises Kevin can’t really identify.

“Um… what’s the difference?”

“Between what?” asks the doctor, his head buried between two shelves.

“Between a soul mirror and a body one.”

“Aha!”

“Excuse me?”

“Not you!” the doctor snaps again, shooing Kevin away with one hand. “The difference is one traps a soul, the other a body.”

He emerges slightly dusty, holding a leather-bound book that Kevin is afraid is going to fall apart in his hands.

“Now, you want to know what that means, yes?”

“Please,” Kevin says. He would have thought that was obvious, but-

“A soul mirror takes the soul of a person and gives them the mirror as a vessel, instead of a body,” the doctor says, immediately opening the book and burying his face in its pages even as he walks back to the couch. “My name is Gotswana, by the way. What this means is that a new body must be found for the soul if you want them _out_ of the mirror. This is generally a curse; not too nice, and leaves the person in an awkward place if they want to live as a human again. Now- yes, yes, nice to meet you, too, Prince-who-will-not-slay-a-dragon - blood magic actually takes a person’s body and traps it in the mirror. Whoever it is you’re trying to save is _in_ _there_ , like the mirror is his house. What you get to do,” and now he looks up, eyes alight with some kind of inspired excitement, “is break him out.”

For Kevin, who’s still feeling rebuffed from his multiple failed attempts at politeness, it takes a second to get that the doctor - _Gotswana_ \- is actually enthusiastic and not just angry. Besides, breaking someone out of a magic mirror sounds a lot like breaking a magic mirror, and that sounds very, very dangerous, considering that, as of now, that mirror is _Arnold_.

“Is that a good thing?” he asks tentatively.

Gotswana huffs. “You’re the one who wants a quest, aren’t you?” he retorts.

All right, yes, that is _incredibly_ unhelpful. "So, what do I need to do?" Kevin asks. "Is... it's not going to hurt h- hurt, right?"

Gotswana looks up from his book, unimpressed. "Did you chose to go on a quest because it would be easy?"

" _No_ ," Kevin replies, stepping forward. "I'm on a quest for my honor, and to save my friend from the enchanted mirror."

"Your friend?" Gotswana asks. "Are you sure?"

Kevin frowns. "Am I sure he's my friend?" he questions. "Of course I'm sure. We've been together for two years, almost. He- he's my best friend."

"Hmph," is Gotswana's only comment. Then his nose is back in the book, and he completely ignores Kevin.

Which leaves the prince to consider what he's just said. It's true, but- no, that's the problem. It's _true_. Kevin's closest friend in the world is an enchanted mirror (or is trapped in one), and he didn't even know the guy's name until three days ago. That's... that makes Kevin feel more than a little guilty. Arnold has always been nice to him - even though he didn't necessarily _have_ to be, considering the way he ended up hanging on Kevin's wall in the first place - and more supportive than anyone else Kevin knows. Heck, even his tutors weren't as excited about Kevin's progress in lessons as Arnold was. And they've had conversations, good, long, deep conversations, about stuff that Kevin never would have brought up with anyone else. Sometimes it was just because he made a comment out loud and forgot that Arnold could hear, but the result was always worth it. And Arnold... there's really no reason for Arnold to like him. Despite all of Kevin's princely charms, his looks and his many talents, Arnold was still forced to be Kevin's birthday present, and that's just wrong. And Arnold has seen a lot of the not-so-princely sides of Kevin, too. Yet Arnold is still his friend.

Something in Kevin warms at the thought, and he finds himself smiling a little sappily as Gotswana suddenly shoves a scrap of parchment in his face.

"What-"

"Read that. But not now. Out loud, once you get on the mountain."

"Once I do what?"

Gotswana sends him a baleful scowl, and Kevin blushes.

"I was lost in thought," he says.

Gotswana rolls his eyes. "You take your mirror, you climb up to the flat plane at the top of the mountain, you read the spell, and you break the mirror. And then you take a piece of mirror, cut yourself, and let three drops of blood fall on the mirror."

"What? More blood magic?"

"What were you expecting, me to wave a magic wand?"

"Well..."

"I'm a doctor, dumbass, not a miracle worker."

 _What's with the magic spell, then?_ Kevin wants to ask. But then Gotswana snaps his book shut and looks Kevin in the eyes.

"Look," he says, "blood magic is a tricky thing, because it isn't like a charm or a simple spell. Those, I can break. But blood magic is messy and complicated, and it has _meaning_. It has _motive_ , and it has _intent_. That is why you need to go up the mountain to a specific place, and that's why you have to read the spell, and that's why you have to break the mirror."

"Oh."

"And, in case you were wondering, it's not going to be easy. Nobody does this for their quests, and for good reason. You have to know what you're doing, and you have you know what you want."

Gotswana turns away to return his book to the cavernous cabinet, and Kevin swallows. None of His Majesty the King's warnings had hit their mark quite the way these words do.

"Three things," Gotswana says. "Magic loves to work in threes, don't ask me why. Three things you need to remember, and then no one has to die: when you are on the mountain, do not stop. When you reach the top, do not hesitate. And do not tell your mirror any of this."

"What? Why?"

"I will be honest with you, Prince. This ritual you are going to do is very delicate. One little thing goes wrong, and-" He makes an exploding gesture with his hands; his expression is very grave. "So, he needs to be innocent. You both do, but obviously you need to know what you're doing. Do not tell him. Do you understand?"

Slowly, Kevin nods.

"Great," Gotswana says. "Now get out of my house."

*******

Luckily it's early enough to start up the mountain by the time Kevin makes it to the ground. He's not sure he could have waited. _No one has to die_ , Gotswana said. Kevin hadn't known that was a possibility. He refuses to let himself think about it, busying himself instead with somehow getting Arnold's harness from his saddle to form a sort of backpack, and getting a full skin of water, and hitching his horse to a tree surrounded by the tall grass (which it apparently finds delicious) and close enough to the stream coming from the mountain's slope that no one will have to watch it, and tieing on the shoes Princess Nabulungi offers him that are supposed to help with climbing. And then, she shows him the beginning of the path up, and she wishes him good luck, and then Kevin and Arnold are on their way.

Arnold tries three times to start conversations - "Wow, Kevin, I hope this hike won't take too long. I'm sure I'm really heavy." "Hey, Kevin, what was that tree house like up there? Princess Naba said it's _awesome_ inside." "So, Kevin, what are you gonna ask for for your I-did-my-quest-so-suck-it banquet?" - before Kevin has to blame his silence on shortness of breath. It's not a _lie_ , because air is hard to come by when you're hiking uphill, but that's not why Kevin's throat seizes up every time Arnold expects him to answer. He hadn't realized there were such high stakes for this quest, and now that it's hitting him...

He's not _scared_ , of course. Just apprehensive. It's not going to go wrong. He's Prince Kevin Price.

But his best friend's life is what he's gambling with. He can't mess this up. He cannot fail.

*******

There's a lake, about halfway up the mountain. Arnold has been chattering non-stop since Kevin told him he couldn't answer.

"That's okay! You can listen," Arnold had said, and Kevin hadn't had the heart to tell him that the stone sitting in the pit of his stomach got heavier with every word.

But Kevin has to stop at the lake. He's tired, his feet are aching, and there's just something hypnotic about the way the wind gently ruffles its azure waters. So he settles Arnold's harness against a rock, just outside of a cave next to the water's edge, and sticks his feet in, shoes and all. He sighs in relief as the cold seeps in, immediately starting to numb him, but then-

"Oh, look, boys; we have visitors!"

Kevin whips around to see a slew of young men, all his own age, pour out of the cave behind him. They would look right at home in His Majesty the King's court, actually, smiling brightly and dressed in clean, bright pink tunics over white linen shirts and dark trousers. Maybe the color is a bit potent, but the elaborate gold embroidery Kevin sees around the edges more than makes up for that. It looks like a convoy of lords-in-waiting got lost somewhere on this mountain, fresh from preparing for a ball. He wonders what they're doing here.

"Welcome, stranger," one of them says, his sandy red hair artfully tousled in the breeze from off the lake. He comes forward, offering a hand to help pull Kevin up. Kevin gets up on his own, but he does smile back. "I am Prince McKinley," the man says. "And you are?"

"Prince Kevin Price," Kevin replies. "I'm surprised anyone else is up here."

The group all laughs tastefully, Kevin joining in after a moment. Arnold hasn't made a sound.

"Well, we are a unique little troupe," Prince McKinley says, clasping his hands together. "But we love meeting new people, don't we?" The others all nod and smile at Kevin, who gives them a quick wave.

"See, that's Prince Church, and then Prince Michaels, Prince Neeley, and Prince Davis." A young man steps forward, all big blue eyes and blond hair, and Prince McKinley wraps an arm around his shoulders fondly. "And, of course, my dear companion, Prince Thomas."

"Hello!" Prince Thomas says brightly.

Thomas... Kevin knows that name. He thinks for a second, trying to place it, but nothing comes to mind. Maybe his family has come to His Majesty the King's court before.

"It's great to meet you all," he says, as honestly as he can, and everyone smiles.

"It's wonderful to meet you, too," Prince McKinley says, "Kevin. If I may call you that?"

Oh. That's... forward. But Prince McKinley continues, saying "Actually, we were just about to start practice for the day. Would you like to join us?"

"Practice?" Kevin asks. And he _knows_ he can't, he has... there's something he has to do, but... but it can't hurt to hear them out, right? They seem very nice. And Gotswana said not to stop, but he can't have meant because of these princes. After all, Kevin's a prince. This is perfect company. Maybe they even know how he can finish his quest - yes, that's what he's here for - faster.

"Oh, dance practice!" Prince McKinley announces.

The other princes clap.

"We all _love_ dancing," McKinley says. "Would you like to join us?"

Hmm. Kevin's never really liked dancing before, but now it sounds like a wonderful idea. "Sure!" he says. "But only for a while. I have... I have a quest."

"A quest?" Prince McKinley laughs. "Surely that can wait. Don't you want to dance with us, Kevin?"

"Yes," Kevin answers, "but what about-"

"Hush, no worries!" Prince McKinley says, smiling brightly. "We don't worry about anything while we're dancing. Come join us, Kevin. You'll love dancing; I'm sure of it."  
The other princes start to retreat back into the cave. And Kevin... he hears something from it, that maybe sounds a bit like music. Maybe that's what they dance to. It's very... catchy. Catching. Kevin wants nothing more than to move his feet to it, to move and-

Prince McKinley holds out a hand. "Come dance, Kevin," he invites. He's smiling, and Kevin finds no problem with stepping forward, extending his own hand, meeting him in the middle. But at the last moment, he looks back at Arnold. Maybe for his approval, maybe to assure him it'll only be one dance and then they can start heading up again. But Arnold's reflection doesn't show Kevin reaching out to take Prince McKinley's hand. What Kevin sees in the glass is himself, dirty and road-stained, being pulled with thick cords towards a man, thin, ragged, long-haired, desperate. It's Prince McKinley, but he's not reaching out, and he's not smiling. He looks like a prisoner, his arms and legs shackled, and he's looking directly into the mirror.

"Run," he says. " _Run_."

Kevin looks back. Prince McKinley is smiling brightly, his head cocked slightly like he can't believe it's taking this long for Kevin to make up his mind.

"Dance with me," he says.

Kevin steps back, slowly, cautiously.

"Prince Price," he says, "why won't you come dance with me?"

Kevin takes a deep breath, then turns to scoop up Arnold and he starts running up the mountain trail.

A chorus of hideous screams echoes from behind him, and his running turns into sprinting, flying, _fleeing_ to get away.

He doesn't look back, he can't look back, and even though there's a terrible, agonizing pull for him to just turn around, to go back, to see what he's escaping, he has enough presence of mind (or maybe just enough instinctual terror) to keep his eyes forward, and looking up. He runs, and he runs and he runs and he runs, until the screams have completely faded and he hears Arnold's voice past his own heartbeat pounding in his head.

"Kevin, you- I couldn't talk, I tried to warn you, I'm sorry, but they... they silenced me or something, I couldn't do anything, I couldn't-"

"It's... fine," Kevin says, slowly to a walk. His lungs are burning; his legs are aching, but he keeps going. No wonder Gotswana said to never stop on the mountain.

Then, suddenly- "Thomas," he says. "He... prince... left on his quest... went looking... for his friend... never came back." Kevin had heard that story at the banquet hall. His Majesty the King had made a triumphant announcment, regarding the adoption of the Thomas kingdom into His realm, and Kevin had seen the former king and queen, red-eyed and white-faced, at the high table. Prince Thomas had been the heir apparent, after the death of his sister by illness, because the queen had struggled with childbirth. The girl and Prince Thomas were her only two children, and when Prince Thomas hadn't returned from his quest, they had no where left to turn.

Kevin's heart aches.

He and Arnold both stay silent for the rest of the trip.

But that leaves Kevin's blood racing and his heart pounding, and he can't hold back the fear anymore. Because he is afraid, he's deathly afraid, because he had three things to remember and he would have been trapped forever, if he hadn't looked back. He can't do that with Arnold. He can't risk someone else's life for his quest. He can't...  
When he gets to the top, he can't hesitate. He remembers: say the spell, break the mirror, three drops of blood. He has to do them, in that order, just like that, as soon as he gets to the top.

He's terrified.

*******

They've reached the top of the mountain. Kevin is shaking all over as he steps onto the flat plane the doctor promised he'd find, his legs from exhaustion and his hands from what he's about to do. Now there's only one thing to remember. Gotswana's words echo in his head: _He needs to be innocent. You both do._

Kevin has never been so worried about his sins before now.

He sets Arnold's mirror against a large boulder, trying to stabilize it; his hands are shaking too bad for it to work.

"Hey, Kevin?" Arnold asks. "What's the matter?"

Kevin shakes his head. "Nothing," he says, gasping. "Just... tired."

And Kevin is innocent, he knows he is, but... this is so much more than he bargained for. He realizes he doesn't care about his quest anymore; Arnold's life is at stake. If he misses any steps or any of the words of the spell, both he and Arnold could die. If he touches the mirror, and he isn't innocent...

And Kevin knows, now, too clearly and too painfully, that he's far from perfect. Is perfection innocence? Or does he just have to be good enough for the spell?

He retrieves the parchment Gotswana gave him from his pocket. He unfolds it with shaking hands. The words are still there, if smeared a little; the ink must not have been dry when Kevin took the page and stuffed it in his pocket. He smoothes it out as best he can; he clears his throat. This is it. This is... this is the greatest thing Kevin will ever do, and it's happening right now.

"Kevin?" Arnold asks.

" _Hunc dimittis de carcere animam meam_ ," Kevin begins, clutching at the edges of the parchment, " _et auferam sanguinem eius offerre pro, libera et in nomine eius_."

His vision blurs, but he can't stop; the spell has already begun, and the mirror is glowing.

" _Haec anima et corpore liberari, et eius sanguinem non deseruit, tenet hic, ut capti in tenebris_." Kevin's heart is pounding so loud he can hardly hear his own voice. He can _feel_ the magic, drawing from something deep in his chest, making his talk louder, stand taller, say these words with more strength. He knows, with everything in him, now, how much this _means_. He is not allowed to fail.

"Kevin?" Arnold asks. He sounds scared, and Kevin almost falters. "Kevin, what are you doing? What are you saying?"

" _Potentiam veri ex virtute sanguinis; potentiam et virtutem fidei puritatem, sunt praecipio, vobis dimittere eum_ :" it's burning, the magic; it flows through Kevin's body with a force he never thought possible; it's going to knock him over; he's not going to be able to finish the spell, he- he has one more line. He needs to say _one more line_.

"Kevin!" Arnold feels it, too.

Kevin lifts the parchment again, barely able to read it through the feeling that's destroying him from the inside out. " _Quo spondeo sanguine hostiæ, et scient quia ego dilexi reliquis diebus!"_

His hands release the parchment; the wind whips it away. Kevin feels so strong, yet also weak, like all he has in his veins now is magic, and once that's gone...

He closes his eyes, and he raises his clenched fist.

"Kevin, what are you-"

His fist connects with the glass; it cracks thinly, looking like a thread has been layed across the surface. It's not enough.

"Kevin, no, you..."

Again, he raises his fist. Again, it hits the glass. He can hear the cracking that spreads from where his knuckles connect, like thin ice in the dead of winter.

"Kevin, that _hurts_. Kevin, don't... what are you doing?"

Again. More cracking; Kevin's strength is waning. The magic isn't satisfied, it needs more. It needs Kevin's blood, and he's not moving fast enough.

Again, and again, and again. Arnold is crying out, he needs Kevin to _stop_ , Kevin is going to kill him, doesn't Kevin see, he can't do this, he can't-

Kevin keeps going.

His blood starts to drip down the glass. Arnold is sobbing, he hears - or maybe that's himself. Kevin doesn't know. All he is now is the repetitive motion of his arm back and forward, into the glass. He needs to... he's _so close_. The spell is whirling around him, in him, taking from him. It licks eagerly at where the skin of his hand is scraped away, at the life force that's flowing from him in the form of blood, trailing across his skin. He punches harder; it tears a cry from his throat: he's been holding his breath.

Again, and again, he strikes, and now he's yelling, putting everything he has into every stroke. He can't hear Arnold anymore, but the mirror isn't broken. It needs to be _broken_ , shards like knives scattered across the ground, and Kevin needs to go _harder_.

And there, _there_ , one knuckle bursts through to the other side; he can see the hole when he pulls back. That's it; this is it. He's almost there.

With a cry that feels like it's pulled from the depth of his soul, Kevin pulls his arm back, then pushes it forward. The glass splinters, fractures, around his hand, and then the frame and its curtains dissolve into dust. He stares for a moment, at where the frame had been, only a moment before; now there's only a bare rock, littered with fragments of glass reflecting the dim light of the sun hidden behind grey clouds. But beneath, on the ground, there are the knives. Kevin grabs one, sobbing with relief and desperation, and he raises it to his arm. Gotswana said this would be enough, that no one has to die, but Kevin saw the look in his eyes. No one _has_ to die; but someone will.

With the last of the strength the magic is giving him, Kevin cuts hard, and deep, across his wrist. He holds it out over the shards of Arnold's mirror, painting them scarlet. Kevin can feel his heartbeat there, and he sees it in the way his blood spurts out, messily but with an unfailing rhythm. But he's done it, he's there. He completed his quest. And when he dies, Arnold will be free.

The magic leaves his body as the blood starts to slow; its gotten what it wanted out of him, and now he is abandoned.

Kevin falls to the ground, his face dangerously close to the shards of glass.

Maybe there is something he should say. His jaw works, but his mouth is dry.

" _Arnold_..." he says, and then-

******

He wakes to the sound of his name. It's warm, here in Heaven. And that voice sounds familiar. Kevin smiles, turning his head towards the sound.

"Oh god, Kevin!"

The voice sounds worried. Why is it worried? This is Heaven. Everything is perfect here. And if everything is perfect... Kevin did the right thing.

“Kevin, please!”

He tries to tell the voice to be quiet; he has a headache, and-

He shouldn’t have a headache in Heaven.

Kevin opens his eyes, immediately squinting at the bright light all around him. Whoever it is beside him - and yes, it is beside, because he can feel somebody’s knees pressed up against his ribs- leans over, blocking some of the light, and Kevin can see their silhouette: wild, curly hair, a round face, and are those spectacles? He’s never seen this person before.

But he’s heard the voice; he knows that voice.

“Arnold?” he whispers.

“Holy moley, Kevin,” he says, throwing himself on top of Kevin’s prone form in something like a hug. It knocks all the air out of him - Arnold is heavy - but he has never been so glad to get a hug in his life.

“Am I alive?” he asks, his voice hoarse.

“Barely!” Arnold cries, the sound muffled by Kevin’s shoulder. “Why did you do that, Kevin?”

A grin splits Kevin’s face, and he says “It was my quest.”

Arnold sits up again and wipes his eyes roughly with the back of his hand. "You didn't need to do _that_!"

“Yeah,” Kevin replies, “I did. The doctor said so.”

He tries to push himself up off the ground, but the moment he puts weight on his wrist the pain, dull before, sharpens to an agonizing point, and he falls back to the ground.

“Don’t do that!” Arnold says, reaching out to take Kevin’s injured hand, as if him holding it will keep Kevin from doing anything stupid. And then, a tearing sound, and Arnold pulls a scrap of cloth out of nowhere and wraps Kevin’s wrist tightly. Kevin flinches away, but Arnold’s grip doesn’t falter. “You h-have _so much_ explaining to do!” he adds, his breath catching in a way that sounds painful.

“Why are you crying?” Kevin asks, letting his head fall back to the ground. It’s not very comfortable, but heck, he just almost _died_. He’s exhausted, and he’ll take what he can get.

“Why-? Because you- Kevin, what do you think I’m gonna do when I wake up in my body for the first time in years just to s-see _my best friend_ , passed out on the ground? You… you’ve got _blood_ all over your face, and your wrist was all cut open, and your hand…” The tears Kevin hears in his voice spill over, trailing down his cheeks.

“Hey, Arnold,” he says softly, “it’s okay.” With the knuckles of his free hand, Kevin brushes those tears away as carefully as he can, frowning at the streaks of dirt he leaves across Arnold’s skin. If he caused those tears, it’s the least he can do to help them go away. “It was worth it.”

“Kevin…”

Well, _that_ didn’t work. There’s two tear tracks to match every one Kevin wiped away, now, and he doesn’t want to get Arnold’s face all dirty. Kevin’s head is fuzzy, so he can’t really see the details too well, but he’s sure Arnold’s face doesn’t deserve the mountain’s earth on it. That, and Armold’s eyes are red with crying, and that-

“Wait, did you… I’m your best friend?”

“Y-yeah, Kevin,” he replies, wiping his nose on the back of his hand. “...yeah.”

Huh. Kevin's eyes start to slip closed, but before he succumbs to sleep entirely he whispers "Thanks."

"Oh, no, you don't- not _now_ , Kevin!"

Kevin sighs, his eyes staying closed.

"What?" he asks. "I'm tired, Arnold." He's so tired, and... and _weak_. He's not sure if he can move or speak anymore, after this.

"I know," Arnold replies, "I know, buddy, but we gotta get you back down the mountain."

"What?" Now Kevin's voice is a whisper, but he forces his eyes open again. Arnold looks scared out of his mind, but also determined, and that's not a good sign.

"We have to head back down," Arnold says. "You're... you're bleeding a lot, Kevin, and we can't spend the night on this mountain." He sniffles. "We have to get you down."

"Arnold... I don't know if I can." It's completely honest. Keivn never thought he'd be in the place where he'd admit that he might have to die on the side of a mountain, bleeding out from the wrist, but... "Go," he says. "Get down to the village, and maybe they can-"

"No!" Arnold throws himself around Kevin again, and then he starts tugging at Kevin's shoulder; he's trying to help him up. "No, we're- we're gonna get down. Come on, Kevin. You gotta get up."

"Arnold-"

" _No excuses_!" he cries, and there's more tears falling now. "You gotta come, Kevin. What good is your quest gonna do if I'm the only one who comes back? You can do this. You can make it down, I know you can."

"I don't..." Kevin swallows. "I don't care about my quest anymore."

Arnold stops struggling. "What?" he asks, voice raw and croaking.

Kevin shakes his head. "...did it for you," he says. "Best friend."

"Kevin..." And Arnold just looks at him, for a long, long moment. Kevin feels his vision slipping in and out of focus, and he tries very hard to force it back. If this is going to be the last thing he sees-

And then Arnold is leaning in, closing his eyes, coming close, pressing his lips to Kevin's in the fastest, hardest, sweetest of kisses.

Kevin can't believe it.

"I am _not_ gonna let you die here," Arnold vows fiercely, passionately. "No way."

And all Kevin can say is "...okay."

Somehow Kevin gets to his feet. He's in pain - his wrist burns like he's submerged it in fire - and he's shaky on his feet, and his head is spinning worse than its ever been before, but Arnold is supporting him, keeping him from falling over, and they start to make their way down.

Kevin doesn't know how they get down. He can't remember it. It seems bright to him, but he knows it can't be. The sky was dark when they reached the top, but he sees blinding light everywhere anyway. He's tripping over his own feet, babbling nonsense - "I can't- Arnold, I..." "You can. You _can_ , Kevin and you _have_ to." - crying, blind, suffering, but then, after an eternity of falling, of trying with everything he doesn't have to just make it to the bottom, he falls into someone's arms. It's not Arnold; he hears Arnold crying from a distance.

"I..." he tries to talk, to tell him not to, but he has no strength left. He lets this stranger do what they want with him, and when his stomach drops and the air gets colder, he guesses that means they're taking him away for good. But Arnold _promised_...

*******

There's light before he opens his eyes. It's coming from in front of him, but not the sides. He's warm. Safe. He smiles. No one calls his name.  
He opens his eyes, and- it's a small, wood-paneled room. He's lying in bed. A wool blanket, brightly dyed and intricately woven, covers him up to the chest. His arms are out, and he's too weak to move them.

Kevin takes a deep breath, and that's enough to bring dark spots in around the corners of his vision.

He's not dead.

How-

There's someone sitting in a chair in the corner, off to the right and near the window. The person is looking out of it, and they're not smiling. Their foot jerks repeatedly, quickly; their shoulders are hunched.

Kevin sees the glint of spectacles reflected in the sunlight, and curly hair so dark he would call it black except that it gleams red-brown in the light from outside. A young, full face, lightly freckled and pale. The curve of long lashes. Full, pink lips, bitten and raw. Nervous hands picking at the skin around their nails. A simple tunic tied around a thick waist. Kevin thinks the person should be smiling.

"Arnold," he whispers. The figure whips around so fast his spectacles slide down his nose.

"Kevin!" he cries, overjoyed, and Kevin does his best to muster up a smile.

"I'm not dead?" he asks again.

"Barely," Arnold answers, smiling, and again he starts to tear up. But he approaches the bed carefully, as if he isn't sure if he's allowed to. "We didn't know if you were gonna make it."

"You said..."

"I know," Arnold interrupts, looking away. "But you didn't seem convinced."

"You convinced me," Kevin replies, barely managing to get the words out. His eyes are sliding closed again, and this time, Arnold doesn't tell him to keep them open.

He just smiles and wipes his eyes and says "Yeah, get some more sleep. I'm just... thanks for waking up."

Kevin falls asleep smiling.

*******

His recovery is long and slow. Gotswana grumbles - it's his house, high in the tree, that Kevin's cooped up in - but Kevin really did almost die, up there on the mountain, and because what he did was part of the ritual, none of Gotswana's potions can make the healing faster.

"When you can climb down by yourself, you can leave," he declares, and Kevin knows better than to question. After all, Gotswana's words got them, both he and Arnold, back down, _alive_ , didn't they?

But that doesn't mean Kevin can't ask about the stuff that's already happened.

"Hey," he says, the first day he's allowed out of his bed and into an arm chair in the sunniest patch of Gotswana's front room, still filled with enough glass to pane a church. "How come Arnold wasn't allowed to know about anything?"

"What?" Gotswana asks; he's tidying up, apparently, by putting bottles all of one color in big piles throughout the room. "Oh, I just made that up to keep him from asking questions."

"What?" Kevin responds. "But..."

"It was important," Gotswana adds. "He would have been terrified if you knew you were going to break his mirror, and that could have thrown everything off."

" _I_ was terrified I was going to break his mirror!" Kevin cries. Gotswana tsks.

"Calm, your Royal Highness," he admonishes, unashamedly sarcastic. "Getting worked up will only make things worse."

Kevin sighs and slumps back into his seat.

"You know, I'm actually surprised you managed to pull it off," Gotswana says. "That spell was one hell of a long shot."

Why is Kevin even surprised.

"A long shot?" he echoes. "You sent me and my best friend up that mountain, where we both could have _died_ , on a long shot?"

Gotswana turns around to point at him with a vial as long as his arm and says "To be fair, I didn't know if you'd make it past the sirens."

"The-" _The princes_. "Yeah, what was up with that?! And thanks for the warning, by the way."

"The sirens have been up there for years," Gotswana answers, turning back to his work and ignoring Kevin's sarcasm. "Only the strongest of heart can pass them, or some bullshit like that. They're demons, but they can only use what you already want."

Kevin frowns. "I wanted to dance?" he asks, skeptical.

"What did you see?" Gotswana inquires in turn.

"Some princes," Kevin replies. "In... in court dress. They asked me to practice dancing with them. One of them was really... he was really forward, but they seemed nice enough."

"And how did you get away?"

"I..." Kevin blushes, though he doesn't really know why. "I looked back at Arnold, and I saw a vision or something on the glass."

Gotswana hums in understanding. "Priorities," he says gravely.

Kevin waits for him to explain for a while, but when he doesn't elaborate at all, he finally asks: "What do you mean?"

"Land sirens show you what you want to see," Gotswana answers somberly. "But they can't show you what is most important to you. So you saw something good, companionship or what have you, but you looked back and saw something better."

Kevin almost cries out in indignation - _that vision was definitely not better!_ \- but then he realizes what exactly the doctor could be referring to.

"You mean..." he starts.

"You know what kind of spell undoes blood magic?" Gotswana interrupts.

"Um... more blood magic?"

Gotswana sends him a dirty gesture.

"That wasn't really blood magic," he snaps. Kevin thinks the lack of blood in his body right now would disagree. "Did you read the spell?"

"I _had_ to-"

"All right, smart ass, did you know what it means?"

Kevin shakes his head. He knows Latin, of course, but all he caught in the moment was the feeling of the words, and the way the magic of them moved through him. It was too intense a feeling for him to focus on an actual translation.

"It was bond magic."

"...bond magic?" Kevin's studies hadn't covered that.

"Most powerful kind, believe it or not," Gotswana says, scooping up an armful of bottles and bringing them to the corner nearest Kevin. Kevin definitely believes it. "It builds on ties between people, uses that power to complete the spell, then returns back to the bond, making it stronger.

"It draws from both the caster and the subject. It's always two-person," he continues. "The stronger the original tie, the better your chances of success. Stronger spells need better ties. Parents and children are usually good, especially with babies and new parents. Brothers in arms, sometimes. Lovers, but they have to be _more_.

"The spell you used was one of the strongest out there," Gotswana confesses. "It was a long shot because I have no way to prove what a bond will be before and after a spell. But I had a hunch, and..." he shrugs.

Kevin doesn't understand, but there's a feeling crawling up his spine that says he's about to.

"What kind of tie did Arnold and I have?"

Gotswana stops and looks at him. "You really want to know?" he asks.

Kevin doesn't hesitate. "Yes, sir."

Gotswana huffs. "Fuck that 'sir' business," he says, crossing his arms. "But fine. You asked." He takes a deep breath and looks to the ceiling. "You and your mirror had a potential bond. Both lonely, both young. Friends, but with a pulling together for more. It helped that his blood was used to make a gift for you. He was, in a way, made for you. When you decided to go on your quest on his behalf, it started a reaction. That potential started to grow, and just when it needed to be strongest for the spell, you used it. And then, afterwards, when it drained everything from you, it gave it all to your Arnold and he used it to give back to you." A pause. "More or less, then... you gave your soul to free his. And then he gave it back."

"...wow."

Gotswana shrugs. "You asked."

"Yeah, I..." Kevin hardly knows what to ask. "What does that... you said bonds get stronger after spells."

"You're probably tied for life," Gotswana says casually, turning back to his work. "Unless you get someone to kill him off. But that might kill you as well, so... don't do that."

Kevin shakes his head violently, ignoring the way it makes the lightheadness worse.

"'Bonds'", he starts. "Does that... is that love?"

Gotswana waves his hand. "Love, bond, tie, magic, it's all the same thing."

"No," Kevin answers, "no, it's not. Do I love him?"

"Yes. And probably, in the way you're thinking. If not, then you will."

It takes Kevin a good half a minute to get his breath back. "I'm going to be in love with him," he whispers. "I..." Oh lord, he's probably already _there_.

"There's bottles of forget-me-so potion on the desk if you want one," Gotswana offers, and for once he actually sounds genuine. But Kevin doesn't need that, and he doesn't want it. He doesn't...

"That explains a lot," he says quietly.

Gotswana smiles. "It usually does."

Kevin sits back and closes his eyes for a moment, trying to just wrap his head around all of that. Arnold, the person he just saved, the person he was willing to die for... well, it doesn't seem that strange when he looks at it that way. Kevin has heard a lot about destiny, about his course in life; what he's going to do, where he's going to do. He is a crown prince, and after his quest he'll be fully trained as His Majesty the King's heir. And then, whenever His- his father died, Kevin would take the thrown. And then he'd marry, and produce heirs of his own, and then... He never expected a magical wrench in the plans. But what an amazing, _incredible_  wrench.

"Is it true love?" he asks.

Gotswana snorts. "That doesn't exist," he answers. "Bonds are whatever you want to make them."

Kevin is all right with that. He can almost too-easily see a future, stretching long and full before him, with Arnold at his side, as his friend, or- He always planned to bring his enchanted mirror along, no matter where he went, but this... this is better. This is much better.

Kevin is half asleep, deeply settled in a warm contentment fit to match the afternoon sunlight when he suddenly realizes-

"How the heck did you know all that?"

Gotswana laughs. "Fairies can read minds," he says. "And looking at yours is a piece of cake."

Kevin throws his pillow at him.

*******

Two days and a week later, Kevin and Arnold are almost back to the castle. They got a very nice farewell from the Fairy (with a capital 'F', as Gotswana punctuated with a swat to the head on Kevin's way down from his house) village, and Kevin reluctantly and Arnold enthusiastically promised to come back by sometime. Arnold really likes Princess Nabulungi, so much so that Kevin would be worried, except that Naba very pointedly intoduced them both to her girlfriend, Asmeret, and Arnold only seemed even more excited for her.

The journey definitely seems to be moving faster on the way back: they pick up all of Kevin's armor a whole day earlier on the journey than they lost it. And they talk, which is nice. Kevin still can't _see_ Arnold too much, because he sits behind Kevin and holds onto his waist, but that feels much nicer than having the rough edge of a mirror bumping against him with every one of his horse's steps.

But they don't talk about the spell, or what Kevin did on the mountain, or about the kiss. Kevin isn't completely sure he didn't imagine it, but the fact that Arnold has a hard time meeting his eyes and blushes most of the time they actually face each other tells him that _something_ happened, or at least that Arnold wants it to.

It's easier to just let it hang between them, though, until they come upon a clearing that Kevin knows; this is where the palace children, all the sons of lords and the daughters of duchesses and the princes and princesses and even sometimes the children of the servants were brought when the weather was nice. Kevin has been here a thousand times, and he knows it like the back of his hand. He also knows that they're about a hundred feet away from breaking through the trees and coming up to His Majesty the King's fortress, and they're not ready. He stops the horse.

"Kevin?" Arnold asks, and Kevin swings his leg up and over his horse's side, managing to dismount without putting any strain at all on his wrist.

"You want to walk the rest of the way?" he offers, holding out his good hand, and Arnold slowly takes it, sending him a suspicious but curious look.

"Okay," Arnold says, copying Kevin's movements, and then he starts to walk off. But Kevin stands still, and he doesn't let go of Arnold's hand. It's very warm; Kevin likes that.

"Arnold?" he says. Arnold stops. It's late afternoon, and the light slanting into the clearing makes all the little bugs floating through the air look like glittering stars against the darkness of Arnold's hair. They're surrounded by trees, and everything is alive and green and growing. "About that kiss."

Arnold's shoulders slump, and he looks to the ground beneath their feet. "Gotswana said you were gonna say something about that," he mumbles. "He said... about the spell and the bond... and I get it, Kevin. You can- I mean, we can ignore it. 'Cause you didn't know it was gonna happen, just from doing that spell. And it's just a spell, anyway. It's not-"

"You didn't know what was going to happen when His Majesty the King had you trapped in an enchanted mirror, either," Kevin interrupts, smiling. "I don't think that reason counts."

"Well... _yeah_ ," Arnold admits, "but it doesn't have to-"

Kevin puts three fingers underneath Arnold's chin and tilts it up, smirking a little when Arnold's words stumble to a halt and his eyes go wide. They're dark - very dark. Kevin loves them.

"Gotswana told me the bond doesn't have to do, or be, anything," he says. "But... I almost died for you, and I think that's pretty romantic, don't you?"

Kevin chuckles, and Arnold does this little high-pitched giggle that makes Kevin's smirk soften out into an affectionate smile again.

"I know neither of us planned on... heck, I didn't even know... but you were always my best friend, Arnold. You listened to me, and you... you were always there. And I know you didn't really have a choice, but you have one now, and you're still..." He gestures with his free hand to where they're standing, together, mere inches separating them in this sunlit clearing. "I want you to know I... I appreciate that, before everything else. And you will _always_ be my best friend."

Arnold's cheeks are pink, and Kevin is sure his are, too, but he pushes on, because, if he says this right, if he's honest and genuine and _vulnerable_ right now, it could be the greatest thing he's ever done.

"That kiss," he says. "It was my first. But I don't- I want... You were..." Why are words so hard to come by? Kevin looks at Arnold, at the way his eyes are wide and his lips parted with anticipation, with wonder, with... maybe it's even admiration - though what Arnold has left to admire, Kevin has no idea - and, without wasting anymore time on words Kevin surges forward and presses his lips to Arnold's.

It's... beautiful. Wonderful. Soft. Warm. Kevin's mouth falls open and his tongue brushes against Arnold's, and then, as their lips connect in a brand new way, it becomes perfect.  
When they pull apart, only by the space they each need to take a breath, Kevin's hands have found their way to Arnold's wild, beautiful hair, and he laughs softly, breathlessly, against Arnold's mouth.

"I meant to ask," he confesses. "But... can I go for number three?"

And Arnold gives him that, that third kiss that they both know seals the deal, up against the trunk of a tree in the clearing where Kevin grew up, a stone's throw from his home; and then, finally, as the sun goes down and the fireflies of midsummer start to come out, they walk up to the palace gates, hand in hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave kudos/comments, or feel free to come say hi at [my tumblr](http://www.tumblr.greerian.com).


End file.
